has conducted its first freedom of navigation operation in the disputed South China Sea under President Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The patrol was conducted Wednesday by the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey near Mischief Reef, a feature in the Spratly islands where China has constructed an artificial outpost equipped with an airfield, the paper reported, citing unidentified officials. The report said the move was aimed at signaling to China that the U. intends to keep critical sea lanes open. forces operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily basis, including in the South China Sea,” Defense Department spokesman Jamie Davis said in a statement. “All operations are conducted in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allow.”
Davis declined to confirm any details of the Wall Street Journal report. “We will let this statement stand on its own,” he said. carries out so-called “freedom of navigation” operations by sending Navy ships and aircraft near disputed waters to demonstrate the right to fly and sail through what it considers to be international waters and airspace. Such operations need to be within 12 nautical miles of an island or territory to constitute a challenge under international law.
“We have a comprehensive Freedom of Navigation Operations program that seeks to challenge excessive maritime claims in order to preserve the rights, freedoms, and uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law,” the Defense Department statement said.
China’s claims to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, an international waterway that hosts more than $5 trillion of trade a year, clash with five others including Vietnam and the Philippines.
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